Happy Pioneer Day 2012

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Busy few weeks yet again… and quite frankly, I'm getting fed up with f**king computers. Why? Well, this will be the second time I've typed this up because... well, my computer decided to just delete everything one moment in time. No, I didn't even hit a stray key or anything... it just bloop, nerp, gone. Happened. Screen refresh or something? Who knows? Who the f**k cares? Also, my work computer systems are giving me the sh*t fitz... and the laptop is always mildly frustrating. I guess the newer they update things, the less user friendly they really become... because my old laptop & I understood each other, it just got old (and riddled with God knows what as far as viruses & sh*tware) so yeah... all in all, I'm pretty much fed up with these things... but I digress. How else could I possibly share things with my family & friends all over the world without them, right?

Let’s see… Last weekend, Dizzy & I went to San Jose for a day trip. We started off at the Winchester Mystery House. You may recall that I went with my brother nearly two years back & got a dusk tour, but this was Dizzy's first time & we got a day tour... and it's completely different. The story goes that Sarah Winchester married into the Winchester Rifle money... and then tragedy struck as her child & husband died in fairly quick succession (no, not a black widow thing, just sh*t luck). Anyway, she believed that the house was haunted by the souls of those killed by the Winchester rifles... and so she conducted séances to see how to appease the spirits... and apparently they told her to build crazy sh*t in her giant mansion. If you've seen any of the pictures it's actually quite ridiculous... but I had seen this place before & I have my own opinions. What are they you ask? Well... I think she was just a lonely eccentric spinster with a LOOOOOOOOT of MOOOOONNNEEEEEEEY and absolutely no architectural sense. "Build me a staircase here." "Ma'am, with all due respect there's no room or even an upstairs floor for those to go to, it doesn't make sense." "I'm sorry, are you saying that I need to hire a new architect?" "No ma'am. All right boys, let's get this staircase in!" Seriously, in those days, who's going to tell her that's f**king stupid? Nobody! Especially if they want to be employed in California ever again. It's like people who sell clothes that look f**king retarded... if it's what the customer wants, give them the best of what you've got! Anyway, I recommend checking it out.

After that, we ate some Arby's then headed out to Shoreline Amphitheatre for Steve Miller Band & Pat Benetar... and they rocked the house despite being well into their golden years. I had seen Steve Miller Band last July in Tahoe but Pat Benetar was quite good as well. Dizzy & I had a wonderful time rockin' out!!!

Last Sunday was my brother's birthday... and he's getting old as sh*t. That's really all I have to say about that... but we also played a little "Red Dead Redemption" online... which is basically the new way of playing Cowboys from 1000 miles apart. For those who have never played, Red Dead Redemption is from the makers of Grand Theft Auto... but set in the Old West around the Great Depression (1920's?) but it's a lot of the old west, Mexican revolution, yet still fun as you blaze your own path through the story & such. I enjoy it... so if you like the GTA series, I say give it a shot if you haven't already, it's been out a few years. I just wait until the games are cheap.

That being said, I did get a good deal on the new EA Sports college football title "NCAA Football 2013" which is a LOT better than any other version on the PS3 I've ever played. I've tried out... I think just about all of them since 2005 or so when the system came out, but this one seems like they've finally worked out all the kinks and are actually using the systems abilities more rather than recycling old sh*t again & again. It kind of takes the best of past version regarding gameplay, dynasty mode (manager & play as a school for up to 30 years including recruiting & school management), Road to Glory (where you basically create a player and play him through high school & college up until draft day to see if you can create a first round draft pick or something) and a new mode called the Heisman Challenge, where you play as a past winner of the Heisman trophy like Barry Sanders or Jim Plunkett... and you can place them on any team... and you try to win the Heisman trophy with that player. For example, I could choose Tony Dorsett to play for the University of Utah... and go against today's college football teams. It's an interesting mode and yeah, kind of an extension of the Road to Glory or a create your own character modes, but kind of cool to play as some of the best like Barry Sanders. I'm still messing mostly with the Dynasty mode as it's only been a few weeks but the gameplay is a LOT smoother than past years. Also, I like how they've tweaked the secondary to be a lot more difficult, even on easy settings, but even I'll admit it gets frustrating when a safety or linebacker will all of a sudden get superhuman speed & agility to run 40 yards instantly & sky 15 feet in the air to bat a pass... or just straight pick you off. That can irk you... but still, good challenge & you're not just lobbing bombs all game. I highly recommend it for college football gamers. Best I've played yet.

During the week, I basically just worked & occasionally played games in the late evenings... but Thursday night at midnight, I went with Dizzy, my roommate Batgirl & a few of her friends to go see the midnight premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" which of course in the finale in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. I don't want to give anything away as I'm sure there's a few of you out there that haven't seen it yet... but let me just say, it's AMAZING!!! I really liked it... and sure, there are things that you can knit pick about and all that like any movie (especially based on comic books) but it was basically PHENOMENAL in my opinion... and probably the best movie I've seen in a long, long time. Latest competition is "The Dark Knight" honestly... maybe "Inglorious Basterds" but yeah, I'd say even better than that. I say go check it out... like as soon as you comfortably can.

This weekend, Dizzy & I went to the California State Fair in Sacramento... and first & foremost, it was f**king HOT!!! Like I think it reached 108 degrees hot... but we had a lot of fun... as these pictures will attest to... but I think I'll save those until next time... sorry. Just not a lot of time to post today... but here's a hint... YOLO!!! E'ryday e'ryday...

Anyway, that should do it. Would've had these out sooner but... yeah, computers. You know how it goes. Have a great day everybody!!! Happy Pioneer Day 2012!!!